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Sunday, 11 August 2013

GLOBAL: The role of research universities in developing countries

11 August 2013Issue No:282

Research universities in low- and middle-income countries have crucial
roles to play in developing differentiated and effective academic
systems, and in making it possible for their countries to join the
global knowledge society and compete in sophisticated knowledge
economies, according to Philip G Altbach, research professor and
director of the Center for International Higher Education at Boston
College in the United States.

While research universities in the developing world have not yet
achieved the top levels of global rankings, they are “extraordinarily
important” in their countries and regions – and are steadily improving
their reputations and competitiveness on the international stage – wrote
Altbach in an article titled “Advancing the National and Global
Knowledge Economy: The role of research universities in developing
countries”.

“A key point is that research universities around the world are part of
an active community of institutions that share values, foci, and
mission.”

Altbach’s article was published in a special issue of the journal Studies in Higher Education dedicated to disseminating key concepts arising out of an investigation into higher education’s knowledge structure, in a collaboration between the Center for International Higher Education and the OECD’s Innovation, Higher Education and Research for Development – IHERD – programme.

Research universities were defined as academic institutions “committed
to the creation and dissemination of knowledge, in a range of
disciplines and fields, and featuring the appropriate laboratories,
libraries, and other infrastructures that permit teaching and research
at the highest possible level”.

Worldwide, research universities played complex roles in the academic
system, including the core mission of research production and training
students to engage in research.

“The research university is no ivory tower and is relevant to the wider
community; much of its research is carried out in collaboration, with
funding and sponsorship from non-university sources. The research
university is a highly complex and multifaceted institution, serving
many societal roles.”

Research universities worldwide have a great deal in common, “stemming
from a specific tradition and serving similar roles”, Altbach pointed
out. There are national variations, but “synergy of research and
teaching is a hallmark”.

Knowledge production and dissemination must spread internationally, he
argued, and wider dissemination of research capacity throughout the
world was imperative.

“The argument can be made that all countries need academic institutions,
linked to the global academic system of science and scholarship, so
that they can understand advanced scientific developments and
participate selectively in global science.”

Most countries could afford to support at least one university of
sufficient quality to participate in international discussions of
science and scholarship and conduct research in fields relevant to
national development.

All countries want world-class universities

Around the world, countries have recognised that research universities are key to the knowledge economy of the 21st century.

In the United States and Britain, there was rising concern about the
ability to maintain the standards of existing research universities.
Germany had allocated resources to some key institutions, and Japan had
funded competitive grants to create centres of excellence.

“China has placed emphasis on creating ‘world-class’ research
universities, and India is finally beginning to think about the quality
of its mainstream institutions. Similar programmes to enhance standards
exist in South Korea, Chile, Taiwan and elsewhere,” Altbach wrote.

“Several of Africa’s traditionally strong universities are seeking to improve their quality in an effort to achieve research university status, withassistance from external funders; but this process is, in general, behind levels of academic development in other continents.

“Research universities have emerged on the policy agenda in many
developing countries, especially larger nations that seek to compete in
the global knowledge economy.”

Research universities and academic systems

Research universities are a very small and specialised but crucial part
of any academic system, Altbach argued. In America there were around 220
research universities in a system of more than 4,000 post-secondary
institutions. In the UK, there were just 25 research universities among
100 universities and 300 post-secondary institutions.

“Smaller developing countries have perhaps one research university, and
many have none.” China was developing around 100 research universities –
out of more than 3,000 institutions countrywide – as part of its
efforts to build world-class institutions.

A clearly differentiated academic system was needed for research universities to flourish, Altbach wrote.

A good example was the three-tier California public higher education
system, established by the California Master Plan, which has at its
pinnacle 10 campuses of the research-oriented University of California,
the 23-campus California State University system with around 433,000
students, and a community college system with three million students.

Funding patterns, missions and governance differ across the three tiers
and state regulation maintained their different missions. “By
distributing resources with an ideal of efficiency at its core, the
Master Plan also institutionalised a commitment to excellence in its
best research universities, such as the University of California,
Berkeley.”

Clark Kerr, architect of the Master Plan, had a vision of the key
characteristics of research universities: internal governance primarily
in the hands of professors; key decisions receiving inputs from
academics – the concept of shared governance is central; rigorous
meritocracy; research intertwined with teaching; academic freedom; and
engagement with society.

Developing countries also needed to clearly differentiate the missions
of institutions in the post-secondary system, and to organise
institutions in a rational way.

“Appropriate patterns of funding, realistic teaching arrangements,
administrative arrangements, and other key elements of institutions will
need to be organised and then implemented. Ensuring that the rapidly
expanding private higher education sector is to some extent integrated
into the system will also be necessary,” Altbach argued.

“The fact is that few if any developing countries have a differentiated academic system in place; and this central organisational requirement remains a key task.” Without an appropriate system, which would vary according to national requirements, research universities could not fully flourish.

“These institutions must be clearly identified and supported. There must
be arrangements so that the number of research universities will be
sufficiently limited so that funding is available for them and that
other resources, such as well-qualified academics, are not spread too
thinly.”

Altbach explored aspects of academia key to research universities –
communications and networks, journals, libraries, informal communities
of scholars, conferences and professional organisations, the internet,
repositories of knowledge, research universities as critical centres,
the globalisation of science and scholarship, internationalisation and
the research university, the dilemma of language and the academic
profession.

Present circumstances

“To paraphrase Charles Dickens, these are the best of times and the
worst of times for research universities,” Altbach wrote. While there
was wide recognition of the importance of the research university,
international academic connections and research, many countries did not
realise the complexity of and resources needed to build and sustain
them.

He outline some of the characteristics of successful research universities:

Virtually all are a part of a differentiated system, standing at
the top of an academic hierarchy and receiving appropriate support for
their mission.

Research universities – except in the US, Japan and a small
number of church-linked institutions in Latin America – are
overwhelmingly public institutions. The private sector can seldom
support a research university, although some private institutions are
emerging with a research focus – such as in Turkey, India and Latin
America.

Research universities are most successful in regions with
little or no competition from non-university research institutes or with
strong ties between the universities and such institutes. The ‘academy
of science’ system in countries such as Russia and China, and some
models of research institutes elsewhere, lack connections to
universities. Some countries are trying to better integrate research
institutes and top universities, in some cases merging them – this would
undoubtedly strengthen the universities.

Research universities are expensive, requiring more funding
than other universities – to attract the best staff and students and to
provide the infrastructure necessary for top research and teaching. The
‘cost per student’ is higher than the average across an entire system.
Adequate salaries for faculty, well-equipped libraries and laboratories,
and scholarships for bright but needy students are examples of the
expenditures required.

Research universities must have adequate and sustained
budgets; they cannot succeed on the basis of inadequate funding or
severe budgetary fluctuation over time.

At the same time, research universities have the potential for
significant income generation. Students are often willing to pay higher
fees because of the prestige attached to a degree from them, quality
academic programmes and access to top professors. Research universities
also generate intellectual property and discoveries and innovations with
value in the marketplace. In some countries, they can generate
philanthropic gifts.

Research universities require physical facilities commensurate
with their missions, including expensive libraries and laboratories and
sophisticated information technology. The infrastructures of research
universities are complex and expensive. Not only do they need to be
built but they must also be maintained and periodically upgraded.

Research universities require autonomy to shape their
programmes and practices. The balance between autonomy and
accountability in developing countries may be complicated.

Academic freedom is a requirement for all post-secondary institutions but especially research universities.

Conclusion

Research universities in developing countries are at the top of the
academic hierarchy and are central to the success of any modern
knowledge-based economy, Altbach concluded.

“All developing countries need these institutions to participate in the
globalised environment of higher education. Thus, understanding the
characteristics of the research university and building the
infrastructures and the intellectual environment needed for successful
research universities is a top priority.”